With work stress reaching new levels and people taking new ways to maximise their lives, the mind is overloaded with information, stress and worry. As such we are seeing the boom of the spirituality rise in western culture. Ancient spiritual practices are being rebranded as stress busters and sold to individuals and companies as a way to increase capacity and keep people working for longer.
The main practice that has entered the mainstream is named mindfulness. The practice of staying completely present in the moment, using the surroundings to keep yourself grounded in the here and now. Listening to sounds, feeling the ground under your feet, the wind through your hair.
What does mindfulness do?
By bringing yourself to the present moment you are reducing the workload off your brain system, allowing rest bite from worry, rumination and stress. Ultimately, reducing chances of illness, overwhelm and burnout. Regularly bringing yourself into the moment trains your mind to take the present moment as the default, redirecting brain power from distressing thoughts or general busyness, to focusing on this moment. It is no wonder mindfulness based apps are becoming increasingly popular as more companies are opting to use subscription mindfulness services for their employees who are facing increasing workload and work complexity.
Corporate sponsoring explains why the word mindfulness is entering the workforce but there are many more benefits to the individual outside of work. Have you ever been on holiday expecting it to be your massive break from stress and a thoroughly enjoyable experience just to find you are just as agitated on the beach as you are in the office?
Busy minds and bodies become coiled, interwoven upon themselves and eventually seize solid with the amalgamation of the daily stresses that are not tended to. In this state, it is hard to let go, breath and enjoy.
More and more people are waking up to the notion that there must be more to life than work stress and emptiness. What happened to the excited child, blowing out birthday candles with glee? Where is the awe I should feel when out in nature? Where am I? What happened to the delicious tenderness of my skin when touched by a lover?
These questions may also encourage people to try a new tact and embrace the mind in a new way. So whether you are looking to increase your stress tolerance and focus or are on a deeper journey to find meaning, mindfulness tends to be the most accessible first step.
Why doesn’t everyone do it?
When I was first introduced to mindfulness practice I found I had little focus and many, many thoughts. My mind, much like Waterloo station, was a constant buzz, peaceless with an element of chaos, loud and irrelevant announcements blaring, little control and mentions of hot chocolate everywhere. At first this encouraged me to practice daily. But after weeks of daily mindfulness practice I was feeling no difference and was growing increasingly despondent. The task seemed to big with the resources given — I was being told to move a mountain (or a whole train station) alone with only a shovel in hand.
This reflects an elemental truth that is repeated time and time again, people start with good intentions but the task seems too big and the progress too slow. It is totally understandable why people give up on mindfulness practice.
So what can we do to make mindfulness easier?
What does mindfulness not tell us?
There is an assumed fact in the west that human life is lead by mental process. Everything we do is orientated around energising our brain — using it to be as rigid and logical as possible (think corporate.) The use of a rigid, logical brain is not a bad thing, it is necessary. It allows for order, containment, structure and other things required for the stability of a society. However, it is sometimes harder to find in our society, the matters of the heart. Softness, openness, creativity. Or matters of the gut, such as intuition.
Research shows the heart and gut are comprised of complex network of neurons, neurotransmitters and motor-neurons. The same neurons that create mind function in your brain. Whilst the number of neurons in the heart and gut are far smaller than the brain, these neuron systems cultivate intelligence in these areas. Three intelligence centres that work together to support you. Are built to inform you and share their fair share of the load. Except that is not what we are taught. We are shown in society as well as basic mindfulness apps that the mind is supposed to be the focus of our awareness. But by doing that you are keeping the energy for three systems in one system which over energises the brain resulting in so much noise.
By sharing the energetic load equally between the three intelligence centres you are able to bring some of the noise away from the mind giving you two things.
- The ability to feel your heart and gut and the wisdom they have for you.
- Quieter mind that is easier to practice mindfulness with.
How do you share energy amongst the three energy centres?
Follow the steps below and keep practicing so that is becomes easier for your body to automatically inhabit this space, it is a much easier way to live. You can record yourself saying the steps below and play them back as a meditation.
Sitting quietly.
Listen to all the noises around you — try to hear the noises as far away from you as possible. Try not to label them, just move from noise to noise, bringing you into the present.
Keeping the awareness of the outside world around you, widen you awareness to your body. Bring your attention to your mind, gently notice its level of activity.
Then gently lower the focus to your heart, imagine it becoming a magnet for the activity in your brain. The white noise in your head melts into honey that is pouring down towards your heart.
Feel your heart warm up as it awakens with this pooling honey.
Slowly allow the honey to drop deeper into your lower abdomen. Pooling, warm and open.
Feel your body, present in the external world, and the alignment through the three intelligence centres.
Open your eyes and try to maintain this for as long as you can.
With practice this feeling of spaciousness and inner calm can become the norm rather than the exception.
Mindfulness has lots to offer as a window into the spiritual world or a tool to improve focus. With an aligned body, mindfulness and meditation becomes a less intimidating, more fruitful endeavour.
Try it out:)
The Existing Human xx
Check out my shop on Etsy for Wellfulness based material here
Ref: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244019837439
